Job Rotation in the Public Sector: Why the Anticorruption Authority Deemed a SDA Bocconi Project a Best Practice

THE GUIDELINES USED IN SESTO SAN GIOVANNI TO IMPLEMENT A NEW ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL LED TO HIGH ENGAGEMENT AND NO CONTROVERSY AND GAINED A CITATION IN THE 2016 ANTICORRUPTION PLAN

A job rotation program in the public sector is seen as a barrier against corruption. A SDA Bocconi project demonstrated that it is also a good organizational practice. The business school was involved by the municipality of Sesto San Giovanni in the selection of management positions about to expire. Transparent processes based on skills criteria, guidelines shared with staffers, the training of managers and the offer of career opportunities led to the appreciation of the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) that has included the Sesto San Giovanni experience in its 2016 National Anti-Corruption Plan as a best practice to learn from.
 
In 2015, the Sesto San Giovanni municipality is about to transform its administrative body. According to the new organizational model, there will be a cut of more than 20% of so-called organizational and senior management positions (the job positions that in the Italian private sector are called “quadri”). The reduction could have a devastating effect especially on younger employees. Given the block of turnover, these positions represent one of the few chances for professional improvement and wage growth in the public administration.
 
The Secretary-General of the municipality Gabriella Di Girolamo, a SDA Bocconi’s EMMAP graduate (the acronym stands for Executive Master in Management of Public Administrations), and the head of HR Livio Tranchida, a Bocconi and MIMS (Master in Management of Health) graduate, contact Raffaella Saporito, EMMAP’s Director, and enroll her as the third external member of the committee in charge of job selection. The whole process is turned inside out: 1) nominations and selections become transparent; 2) the process is open to any employee. Thus, the selection process becomes a census of skills and promotes internal mobility.
 
In the meanwhile, a SDA program provides the directors with the skills to manage the selection process. The old announcement of selection is substituted by a job description, CVs are replaced by application forms that push candidates to describe experiences, motivations and reasons that make them eligible for these positions. Top managers are trained to prepare and manage the interviews, to evaluate information and to properly communicate the results to the candidates. At the end of the selection process, the commission formed by Di Girolamo, Tranchida, and Saporito divides the candidates into three categories according to their suitability to the job position. The executives make their choices autonomously, as required by law.
 
The results exceed expectations: 169 bids coming from 115 different candidates for 41 positions; 25% of the job positions assigned to new people. “More than twice the people covering the old positions took part in the selection: there was a strong desire to get involved”, Saporito says. “Even more surprisingly, there has been no appeal. It is the result of the idea of letting top managers leading the process and communicating the guidelines. The way the application forms were scrutinized and the feedback provided to each candidate have restored confidence on the whole process”.
 
There was one more result: the guidelines used in Sesto San Giovanni were referred in the ANAC’s 2016 National Anti-Corruption Plan as an example of best practice in job rotation. “That’s important”, Saporito says. “They wrote that the process is healthy not just for anti-corruption, but also for organizational functionality”.

by Claudio Todesco